Checkmate Fire Solutions

Whether you provide new builds for social housing, hospitality, prisons or the commercial sector, or are responsible for existing properties or fire risk assessments, Checkmate Fire Solutions can help

The fire safety of buildings has probably never been so high in the public consciousness as it is today – following the Grenfell tragedy in London, the Bronx apartment fire in New York and the recent Liverpool car park incident, this issue has come to the fore for residents, builders, insurance companies and local authorities.

Checkmate Fire Solutions (Checkmate Fire) has been in the fire prevention business for nearly three decades and so it is ideally placed to address these issues. Therefore, it is no surprise to learn that as one the most trusted contractors in specialist passive fire protection, it has seen considerable growth over the past few years, and has become the largest and fastest growing fire prevention company in the UK.

The company provides its services through two divisions – Compliance, which provides inspection and other consultancy services, and Solutions, which offers Third Party Accredited installations. Its services include fire-stopping/air-sealing, fire compartmentation, fire boarding and structural steel protection; as well as fire doors surveying, restoration and installation and a fully bespoke range of fire rated glazing solutions, designed and installed for clients.

For this latter product, the Alufire Glazing System, Checkmate Fire is the sole distributor and installer for the UK & Ireland. All Alufire doors, windows and partitions meet EN standards related to smoke control and can achieve fire resistances ranging from 15 to 120 minutes. Alufire products also achieve the highest performances in the market for acoustic insulation in interior spaces. Most importantly, all of the above are fully third party accredited as complete units. Echoing the sectors where Checkmate Fire predominantly works, Alufire solutions are ideal for offices, hospitals, schools and universities, leisure centres, shopping centres, hotels and museums. As Chief Marketing Officer, Pat Murphy explained to CCE in early 2017: “Alufire products can achieve up to two hours’ integrity, insulation and radiation and the system has been fully tested as a complete assembly, meaning that it has been subjected to fire and burned to destruction. We are unaware of any other similar products on the market being subjected to this level of testing to evaluate their effectiveness.”

Industry standards
The certifications and testing guarantees that are integral to Alufire are perfect illustrations of Checkmate Fire’s own dedication to excellence, and indeed the company works tirelessly to not only maintain and raise its own standards, but also those across the industry. For example, it was a founder member of the BRE/ LPCB PFP certification scheme, and has achieved a range of accreditations and certifications that highlight its adherence to professional and high quality standards for all its projects. These include LPCB/BRE 1531, LPCB/BRE 1271, LPCB/BRE 1197, ISO 14001, ISO 9001, BH OHSAS 18001, and memberships of the ASFP, Construction Line and the FPA. As stated on the company’s comprehensive website: ‘We view our memberships, associations and certifications with a wide range of construction and fire safety accreditation organisations as both a roadmap and demonstration of our commitment to high standards in all of our company wide activities.’ Furthermore, the accreditations are also testament to the continued hard work and dedication of Checkmate Fire’s growing team of employees.

Over the course of its history, Checkmate Fire has been built on a foundation of continuous improvement, a deeply-held philosophy that runs throughout the business, from the management team at board level down to the installers on the ground. Every member of staff is aware of the critical nature of their role, and their understanding that the consequences of not achieving 100 per cent compliance could result in tragic loss of life or loss of business, has fuelled their passion for excellence and real focus on customer satisfaction.

Customer service
In an industry that historically has been fragmented, and populated by providers of widely variable competence, Checkmate Fire has always endeavoured to provide a supremely professional service, delivering the best possible fire protection solutions for customers both large and small. With a focus on meeting the targets for both installation times and budgets, it uses cutting edge technology to not only remain market leaders, but also to improve customer service. Close relationships with suppliers, industry associations and clients together with extensive training for its own staff, help the organisation to ensure that all its installations are completed to the highest standards of compliance and finish.

After all, as Marketing Manager David Pringle, puts it: “Checkmate Fire’s heritage and adherence to ‘getting it right first time’ underpins the whole ethos that Checkmate Fire has built over the decades, in that, like in the game of chess, there are different stages in realising a strategic end. That strategic end is none other than ‘checkmating’ the opponent, a cliché that we have heard many times before but in this case the opponent is fire, a destructive force that must be contained.”

By keeping quality and value at the core of its delivery, Checkmate Fire already works with blue-chip clients such as AVIVA, Great Ormond Street Hospital, The National Archives and University College London, which have all seen the benefits first hand of the company’s belief in getting it right first time. By working closely with clients from planning to post-installation, everyone from specifier to end user can be confident that all possible steps have been taken to keep them safe in case of fire – which is ultimately Checkmate Fire’s definitive goal.

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